Beginners’ guide

You’ve read about Quadrathlon somewhere, seen pictures or a race and now you want to try it yourself? If only there weren’t so many unanswered questions in your mind? We’re often confronted with athletes not knowing how to take the first steps. So, here’s a beginners’ guide to the world of Quadrathlon!

Step 1: Getting in touch, finishing your first race.

Quadrathlon is an exciting endurance sport that seems to be quite complicated to some, but once you’re in touch with our community, new doors will be open. Most quadrathletes come from from triathlon or kayak-sports. The easiest thing is to join a club or to train in a group. If you are a former paddler you are probably familiar with running and biking as these are often used as winter-training-alternatives. You don’t need a racing-bike, a MTB is fine for the start. Swimming then might be your the challenge. Why not look for a swimming-/triathlon-club to get the technical aspects sorted? However, as you will see, to finish a quadrathlon, you don’t need to be a pro-swimmer. Breast-stroke is completely okay for the beginning.

If you are a triathlete you “only“ need to learn one more discipline. But it’s a technical one. Again, a club is the best option. If there’s no club in the surroundings, take a stable kayak, which you can handle even in windy conditions. Try different types of kayaks, if you have the opportunity. A race is always a good chance to talk to other Quadrathletes and test their kayaks before buying your own. There are many races where you can rent a boat for the race. Use this option! For a sprint distance, you don’t need to train the kayak-part before the first race (at least if you don’t expect to win 😉 ). After the race, talk to us and get inspired – you will then know better which type of kayak could be suitable for you and your goals. If you’re completely new to paddling, take your time! Don’t be frustrated after the first few sessions, steering straight forward and staying in the boat is not as easy as it seems 😉

First conclusion: just register for a race, be open-minded and talk to others. After that, you can look for the material you need. Don’t buy too much stuff before. You don’t need a carbon-kayak and light-weight-bike. You can start in swimming-trunks plus T-shirt, a wet-suit is not compulsory in most of the races. If a race has a “world-cup-title” or Championship, don’t hesitate, in quadrathlon pros, age-groupers and totalbeginners stand on the start line next to each other – they just finish some time apart. There are no time-limits!

Step 2: Training for Quadrathlon.

What should have been step 1 for many is step 2 in Quadrathlon. Because you do not need to train with your whole focus on Quadrathlon. There are many kayak-specialists, who mainly paddle and swim/bike/run every three weeks and just do the races without special training (same thing for triathletes, who paddle 3-4 times/year). Nevertheless, it is possible to combine your training in a way that every discipline gets the same amount of time and sweat. Swim, bike, paddle and run once a week or every second week and the finish-line is achievable. You will build up a good endurance by training these different disciplines. Don’t forget to include some brick-sessions and transition-trainings (the clock won’t stop while your transiting from kayak to bike etc.!). And again, it’s a really good thing to talk to other Quadrathletes and if possible train together with them. Even if it’s just for a training-weekend, you can get insider-tips, technical hints and you can compete and simulate race-situations in training. It’s easier to stay motivated if you have someone next to you involved in the same sport.

Step 3: Getting better. Technique, Speed and Endurance.

This is the point where it gets complicated. Getting faster is easy in the beginning, but the longer you train and the deeper you get involved in the topic, the more you want to improve, the more you want to know about the technique and the details. You’ve probably heard of intervals, high-intensity and periodisation, someone told you something about tapering and rest-days. You read about racing-kayaks, brick-sessions and sport-psychology.

All these points are additional – “nice-to-have”, but Quadrathlon is also fun without. So, these are just things you can try if you want to dig deeper in this sport. The best option is to train with experienced Quadrathletes together for a week-end or some holiday-training-camp. Then there’s enough time to focus on how to improve individually. Just ask the winner of a race, if he’s interested in training with you for a week-end!

Just write a mail and dare to try something new. With Lisa and Stefan you can also participate in weekend- or holiday-camps, these are good options for beginner and professionals.